On August 30^th, 2001, my world changed forever. This was the day my son was born. It was a wondrous day, such a beautiful and incredible baby. My world was no longer about me, it was now about us. I was determined to show him everything in this wonderful world. Just 12 days later the world changed forever for everybody. That is the day that terrorists crashed airliners into the World Trade Center buildings and the Pentagon - 911. In an instant, the world became a dangerous and frightening place.

Here we are today, a year and a half later. One of my dominating thoughts over the last year and a half has been, “what will it take to make the world a safe and wonderful place again”. Many people are having these same thoughts. These are my opinions on how we can possibly accomplish this goal.

How do we make the world a safe and wonderful place again?

• Eliminating and reducing terrorism - eliminate seeds of terrorism
• Stationing of  U.S troops in Saudi Arabia
• Israeli/Palestinian Crisis
• Past incursions by the U.S. for selfish economic reasons
• Poverty and desperation in just trying to survive
• Iraq and Saddam Hussein
• Korea and its nuclear potential
• Nuclear Weapons proliferation
• Resolving world conflicts - the UN and World Court
• US military force without UN approval
• Summary – where should money be spent

Eliminating and reducing terrorism - eliminate seeds of terrorism

The first area of concern is terrorism, one of the biggest perceived threats to our country and the world today. So how do we reduce and eliminate terrorism? There is no question that we need to track down and detain those responsible for terrorist acts or planning attacks and try them according to our laws and international laws. But, the real solution to eliminating terrorism is eliminating the seeds of terrorism. What can we do to prevent people from wanting to hurt Americans and other people in the first place?

The first such seed is the negative feelings many Muslims feel towards Americans, because of our current Middle Eastern policies. I speak specifically of Muslims, since our biggest terrorist threat, the al-Qaeda were all Muslims, and this is where their pool of potential recruits will most likely come from. Most Muslims, it is important to note, are peace loving people.

Stationing of  U.S troops in Saudi Arabia

The first policy that has many Muslims up in arms is the stationing of U.S. troops in Saudi Arabia, the home to Islam’s most holy site, Mecca. Many Muslims believe that having foreign troops in Saudi Arabia is desecrating their holy land. So we need to ask ourselves: do we need these troops there for more compelling reasons than would warrant a major affront to the Islamic religion. I for one, believe not. Therefore, as a show of religious tolerance and respect, I believe we should remove our troops.

Israeli/Palestinian Crisis

The second policy that displeases many Muslims is the perception that America supports Israel in the Palestinian/Israeli crisis. This conflict has been going on for over half a century. This is a major point of conflict between Muslims, Jews, and other religions. The U.S. has tried to negotiate a settlement in the past but has been unsuccessful. It is time to resolve this problem once and for all to eliminate it as a point of contention that seems to spill over into every Middle Eastern issue. I do not have a solution for this conflict, but I believe the best chance we have to resolve this conflict is to appoint a negotiator that both sides would trust and view as unbiased. Therefore, I would recommend former President Jimmy Carter for the job. He has proven himself before at Camp David, Haiti, and North Korea, and I believe that if there is a solution, he can find it.

Past incursions by the U.S. for selfish economic reasons

Another policy that causes ill feelings towards the U.S. by Muslims concerns past incursions by the U.S. for selfish economic reasons. Our support of the brutal regime of the Shah of Iran is a good example of this. We should NEVER put our selfish economic interests above the basic rights and liberties of ANY people. Our dependence on oil seems to be the root of all evil in U.S. dealings in the Middle East. It’s way past time to find alternatives to oil, which would eliminate this region as a vitally strategic area to the U.S.

Poverty and desperation in just trying to survive

The last seed of terrorism concerns all 3^rd world countries - the poverty and desperation in many of these areas of just trying to survive. A possible step in the right direction towards solving this problem is a plan to reduce world hunger by providing every child 1 meal each day at school. This has the side-affect of tackling another seed of terrorism, illiteracy, by enticing children to attend school, so they can receive food. For just 5 billion dollars per year, that’s a steal for all the good will towards the U.S. it will bring. As the old adage states, “don’t bite the hand that feeds you”.

Iraq and Saddam Hussein

Iraq and Saddam Hussein has been getting most of the attention lately. So, is Iraq a major threat to America and world safety? I personally do not believe Iraq is that big a threat. We have him hemmed in on all sides and if he stepped one foot over the border, we and the rest of the world would be all over him. Will invading Iraq without UN backing make America and the world safer? First of all, 100s of thousands of Iraqis will possibly die and potentially thousand of U.S. Troops. The CIA has stated that Saddam would not use weapons of mass destruction, unless we attacked him first. Further, the FBI has stated that if we attack Iraq, Americans will have an increased likelihood of attacks by inflamed Muslims. So, invading Iraq will most likely NOT make the world a safer place, and in fact, will most probably result in many people dying and an increased danger to Americans and the world.

Why take this course of action if we are really just after Saddam and his top brutal generals. So, how do we eliminate Saddam and his thugs without going to war? The World Court and the United Nations should indict and try Saddam and his top Generals for the crimes they have committed against the Iranians, Kurds, and Shiites. This will allow us to be done with them once and for all.

Korea and its nuclear potential

Korea, on the other hand, is a cause for great concern with its nuclear potential. All indications are of a foreign policy disaster spinning out of control. The result of which, will be the biggest blow to nuclear non-proliferation, since the Cold War. With the current crisis, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan may decide to develop their own nuclear weapons for protection against an aggressive and unpredictable North Korea. North Korea could also sell nuclear weapons or fuel for nuclear weapons to other countries or terrorist organizations that may not think twice about using them. I think the only solution for this problem is a different approach by a different U.S. administration.

Nuclear Weapons proliferation

We need to stop all development of nuclear weapons and stop threatening other countries that we will use new or existing nuclear weapons on them in a conflict. We expect non-nuclear countries to refrain from developing nuclear weapons, and at the same time, we publicly discuss developing new strategic nuclear weapons that we would plan on using against non-nuclear countries. This hypocritical policy coupled with our current strident attitude reinforces to other countries, that they need nuclear capability to protect themselves from the U.S. This notion is further reinforced with our more lenient handling of North Korea, because it is suspected of having nuclear capability.

Resolving world conflicts - the UN and World Court

To resolve world conflicts, I believe the U.S. should continue to work through the U.N. and World Court whenever possible. They are the best organizations we have today to resolve international conflicts. If we routinely circumvent these organizations, we will pretty much eliminate them as a stabilizing force in the world.

US military force without UN approval

So should the US never use military force force without UN approval? I believe there are times when our country should bring the full power of our military forces down on brutal regimes - like in Bosnia when genocide against Muslims was occurring; when Rwanda was perpetrating genocide against its own people; and in Iraq when Shiites in the south and Kurds in the north were being massacred. If we can intervene with the U.N. backing, great, but we should not sit idly by when innocent people are dying.

Summary – where should money be spent

Instead of increasing the U.S. Defense budget by $50 billion a year as the current budget is recommending, I believe we could create a safer world by spending this money on eliminating the seeds of terrorism and conflict, and for all out Manhattan Project-like research and development effort into finding alternative energy sources to oil.

In closing, all of us need to work together to help solve the problems we are facing in the world today. Get involved by becoming informed and talking to people about what is going on. Talk to your government representatives and tell them your informed opinions on the best actions to take. And finally, the most important thing you can do to make a change in the world, is to vote for the people that believe in the same solutions as you. Working together, I believe we can again have a safe and wonderful world for our kids to grow up in.

John Collins - February, 2003

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